Dzaleka (Malawi): more than 400 refugees arrested

A large-scale search was conducted by the police and the army on Thursday morning at the Dzaleka camp in Malawi after the gunshots rang out the night before in the said camp. More than 400 refugees were arrested.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Several sounds of weapons rang out during the night from Wednesday to Thursday in the Karonga area of ​​the Dzaleka camp located in the Dowa District in Malawi. The police suspects groups of bandits who allegedly infiltrated the area.

“These are armed bandits who wanted to vandalize shops, who were finally intercepted by the police around midnight. They disappeared into the wild, some fleeing towards the camp, others towards the outside,” indicated the camp’s post chief who reassured the occupants that the situation was completely under control.

No human or material damage has been reported, he adds.

To try to reassure the occupants, the police backed by the army carried out searches in several areas of this camp.

“Between 400 and 450 refugees were arrested until 10 a.m., mainly Ethiopians, Burundians and Congolese,” says one of the community leaders who followed the entire movement.

The police who guard the arrested at their camp station specify that it is the Ethiopians who are more suspected because “known for this type of crime at the Dzaleka camp”.

“Those who are most suspected of illegal possession of weapons will be transferred to the Dowa dungeons, once the first careful investigations have been completed,” she said, recalling that it is also an opportunity to search for undocumented immigrants.

The increasing crime in this camp in recent times worries the refugees who had organized nightly rounds before giving up because they feared “armed troublemakers”.

The Dzaleka camp hosts more than 50,000 refugees, including more than 11,000 Burundians.

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